Benjamin F. Long, IV
Ben Long is an American painter and the grandson of noted artist McKendree Robbins Long. Reared in a family of artists, writers, professors, and university presidents, Long was as precocious in his artistic ability as he was eager to apply it. At 18, Long followed in his father's footsteps to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he majored in Creative Writing under the guidance of his friend and advisor, Reynolds Price.
"To work from life is an ever learning process - a staircase where the incline becomes steeper the further one reaches, yet each platform is also deeper, more dangerous, more wondrous."
-- Ben Long
|
In NYC, Long became a member of the Art Students League of New York, studying under the guidance of such notable artists as Robert Beverly Hale and Frank Mason. In 1969, Long preempted the draft by enlisting in the U.S. Marine Corps. He served just over two tours of duty in Vietnam also serving Commander of the Combat Art Team, and much of his work from that period is now on display at the Smithsonian Institute of Washington, D.C.
Upon leaving Vietnam, Long traveled to Florence, Italy to apprentice himself to internationally-renowned Maestro Pietro Annigoni. Long committed himself to Annigoni for almost eight years. His apprenticeship culminated in 1976, when he was awarded the prestigious Leonardo da Vinci International Art Award. In 1984, Long moved to France, where, for the next 14 years, he split time between Paris and the Gard region of Provence. By the time of the move, Long had completed several frescoes in Italy - including a joint fresco with Annigoni and the only work by a non-Italian at the Abbey of Montecassino. These works set the stage for several major fresco projects in the U.S. (13 to this day), including a dome and the largest secular fresco in the United States.
In addition to his prolific fresco work, Long has had works in the Royal Academy as well as the Royal Portrait Society (London, UK). He has exhibited in Florence, London, Paris, Atlanta, San Francisco, New York, North Carolina, and South Carolina, and is represented in major collections throughout Europe and the Americas. He has lived and worked in Europe for over thirty years and now divides his time between Europe and the United States. In 2001, Long was awarded the coveted Arthur Ross Award for Excellence in the Classical Tradition (Classical America, New York, New York) by Philippe de Montebello (current and longest-serving Curator of the Metropolitan Museum of Art). Mr. de Montebello later referred to Ben Long as the greatest draftsman of the 20th Century.
Long's available drawings, fresco studies, and oil paintings are exclusively represented by Ann Long Fine Art in Charleston, SC and Atlanta, GA. He will have an exhibition of new work fall 2007 at the Greenville (SC) County Museum of Art.
|
Realists
